Akemi's Only Wish
Epilogue The full moon cast it's dim light across the valley, creating an unusually bright night. The light breeze blew Akemi's crimson hair into her eyes, obstructing her view of the valley below. Akemi brushed the hair behind her ear and adjusted her position on the cliff's edge. It was almost midnight and Akemi was growing anxious. She had been waiting on the edge of the cliff for nearly two hours. Her target was to arrive any minute now. The A-Ranked mission had been sent to her via messenger pidgin, describing a target and location. It had been awhile since she had received a mission from the Hidden Leaf, only the forth one she had been assigned since she began residing beyond the village's walls. For the Homage to assign her an A-Ranked mission showed great trust in Akmei's abilities. What had been puzzling Akemi was why eliminating a single target was labeled an A-Ranked mission. Either they were traveling with security or the target themselves was a shinodi of notable skill. Either way, Akemi was confident she could handle it. A dozen pidgins swooped down from the sky and landed in a perfect ring next to Akemi. They each cooed loudly, then vanished in a puff of white smoke. Akemi smiled. Her target had finally made an appearance, and was likely completely unaware of her presence. If everything went according to plan, Akemi would strike down her target with a single attack and have a messenger pidgin on its way to the Hidden Leaf in a matter of minutes. Flams began forming at the base of Akemi's feet, slowly creeping upwards as her body began vanishing. Akemi pushed herself off the cliff, allowing the flames to engulf the remainder of her body as she began falling, leaving only a few dwindling sparks in her wake. Taking a normal stroll from the village, Sigma found himself wandering the region of Konohagakure. These strolls lasted, weeks, but this one, had been only three days. His crimson-metal plates smack up against each other as he made each step, his slanted on his back, just barely showing the crest of the that bore on his under clothing. His face, had a broad smile on his face. A feature usually never short on him. It would be abnormal if he didn't have it. His long black spiky hair complimented his smile, and it sync in perfect harmony and the red strips blended it just as well. Looking up Sigma noticed the bright sun's ray's blaming right back at him. However, to his eye, he could see the distinct pattern at which a few pigeons flew. "There are completely too many of them.. And the way they cooed." Sigma placed his finger on the ground. "I knew it. Something is approaching." Akemi sat underground, not far from her target's position. Akemi could sense her target's footsteps steadily growing closer. Once the target had passed her position, all she would have to do is emerge from the ground and strike from behind. The target would be dead before he even knew what had happened. Akemi waited patiently, sitting in a meditative-like state as the footsteps came overhead. Akemi waited a few moments, realizing now the footsteps were distancing themselves. Akemi shot upwards, her upper body emerging from the ground, kunai in hand. However, as Akemi prepared the throw her kunai knife she realized something wasn't right. She was facing nothing but empty valley. "What the hell?" Akemi murmured to herself, confused as to where her target could have possibly gone. It appear as if Sigma came from no where. He could see the kunoichi with a weapon in hand. Glancing at the environment he had the deal with, he also placed the fact that she jumped from out of no where. Slowly walking up to the scenario at hand, he stopped about ten meters in front of Akemi. "That technique, it's was the hiding like a mole, wasn't it? Hiding, silent tactics... Along the lines of an assassination. You're a woman... Hehe, I'm in luck." Akemi leapt out of the ground and whipped her body around to face her target. How did he get behind me? Akemi wondered. Akemi lashed out with a roundhouse kick aimed towards the man's head. As the she spun around, Sigma's face filled with a smirk. It was a woman, a big beauty to say the least. As she lifted her leg to began her attack, Sigma anticipated the kick; jumping preforming a backwards hand spring, but stayed on his hands. And his feet were now in the place of his hands. "Why don't we first get to know each other." Akemi raised an eyebrow at the man's strange response to being attacked. Before thinking to much of it Akemi, refocused and jumped back from the man, performing a rapid series of hand seals. Akemi quickly unleashed a volley of fireballs at the man, spreading them over a wide area to make them difficult to dodge. Still walking on his hands, he pushed up, allowing him to use one of his hands. Grabbing his from his back. Firmly holding the gunbai, Sigma channelled a portion of his powerful chakra into it. Once done, his body became covered in a , successfully protecting him from the barrage of flames. "Can we talk about this?" Akemi strung together several more hand seals with no reply. Without warning, the ground beneath Sigma's hand opened up, causing his arm to fall down into the now empty space. The earth quickly moved back to it's original position, trapping Sigma's arm in the ground. Akemi drew her Kukri with blinding speed holding it tightly in her hand. "There's nothing to talk about." Akemi finally replied. Akemi rushed towards Sigma, at full speed, fully intending to sever the man's arm by striking at the underside, away from the plated armor. A Date As she continuously preformed hand seals. With his one hand that was up holding his gunbai he threw it, allowing it to latch around a tree. Reducing the chakra on the chain, it began to get smaller pulling Sigma from his location, and closer to the tree. Slowly standing to his feet he looked over at her. His face blank. No emotion. Mad not happy. "Small skill in taijutsu, really small. Fire and earth release natures... You're quite the interesting gal." Akemi stud over where Sigma had escaped the ground, her kukri still in hand. Things had already gone wrong, but Akemi had no intention of abandoning the mission. She only had one opponent, one enemy to deal with. Although this one enemy was obviously a shinobi of notable skill, she was confident she could handle it. Akemi spun her kukri in her hand before sheathing it behind her back. "Your not to boring yourself." Akemi replied. "I almost wish I didn't have to kill you Mr..." As the woman placed her tool for killing back in its sheath, Sigma reached some sort of enlightenment. With a quick glance of her, he was able to tell he'd be able to get a few words out. However, reaching her may be the hard part. She appeared to have her mind on a single track, without no change of direction. Even though her mind was set, he couldn't allow her to best him. I mean after all, she was trying to kill him. "Too bad you have to kill me, eh? Why don't we stop then. Let me buy you a few drinks, then we can gets some understanding, with the Perverted Copy Wheel Eye of Justice! Err, I mean. Sigma." Sigma. Akemi thought. The name rung a bell, but she was unable to place it. Considering he was the target of an A-Ranked mission, it was likely he was listed in the Leaf Village's bingo book. She certainly had not heard of the "Perverted Copy Wheel Eye of Justice," as that was a rather... memorable name. Regardless, Akemi's goal was to eliminate Sigma, which was exactly what she planned on doing. Since at the end of the confrontation. Sigma would be dead, Akemi deemed it acceptable to utilize her special abilities. "Sorry Sigma." Akemi said. "But when we're done hear you'll just be another name I put in the ground." Akemi swiped her arm, unleashing five diamond shuriken at Sigma. Flipping back to his feet, Sigma's gunbai returned to his hand. Sigma's face had a bit of seriousness on it, but of course because his opponent was a female he couldn't get serious. It was his nature, he was magnetically attracted to women. "So you've killed a lot in your time?" As the shuriken where launched at him, he handled his gunbai in a specific manner, . Back at Akemi to say the least. As the shuriken made their way back, Akemi made no movements. As the diamond shuriken drew near, Akemi release the technique, causing the shuriken to shatter and disperse, shrouding her body in a veil of sparkling dust. I'll have to do something about that gunbai. Akemi thought. Akemi thrust her palms outward, firing a volley of diamond spikes at Sigma. Brining his hand up to his face, Sigma glared as she thrusted her palms forward. He knew something was coming, but he was also worried. It seemed Akemi was oblivious to the obvious. Then again she was young, he wasn't too fond of young women anyway. With his thought process cut short by the barrage of spikes shot at him. With the chakra already bottled up in his body, he readied himself. "Can't you tell? It won't work. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu From his mouth, Sigma shot out an orb of flames composed solely of his chakra. The fireball would engulf the diamond thrown at him, and nine times out of ten, melt it. His gunbai rested in his other hand, ready for its orders. Akemi saw the massive ball of fire and questioned whether or not she could handle such a blast. It would be approaching her limits, but regardless, Akemi remained still. Akemi placed both her palms outwards, allowing the fireball to close in. As the flames reached her, The fireball began shrinking, the Fire Release chakra being absorbed into Akemi's hands. Once the fireball had completely vanished, Akemi dropped down to one knee, steam radiating from her body. "That was an awful lot of chakra Sigma." Akemi shouted. "But it's no match for the Kasai in me." Watching as his ball of flames was reduced to nothing, Sigma zoned out a bit. Entering his very own train of thought, Sigma pushed all outside things out, but he could hear just a little. Reaching to his head his scratched it, "Kawai in you? Yeah she said Kawai. Chakra is my affinity, not too sure how that came to be." Sigma dropped his gunbai, as it hit the ground a crater underneath it formed. Akemi tried to conceal her worry, but it was now apparent she wasn't dealing with an ordinary shinobi. For Sigma to use such a large amount of chakra on such a bold display, his chakra reserves must be well beyond that of even a jonin level ninja. Regardless, Akemi was confident she could achieve the mission objective. Akemi rapidly formed her hand seals while channeling the Fire Release chakra she absorbed from Sigma's fireball, unleashing a massive spiraling blast of flames at her target. The flames scorched the earth as the vortex expanded, covering an area over 10 meters wide as it sped towards Sigma. Sighing at his opponents last move play, Sigma left his gunbai planted in the ground his his hand tightly holding it. The scenario seemed to bother Sigma greatly, as the situation seemed to not have been sinking in Akemi's head. Allowing the barrier to take form yet again, Sigma watched as Akemi's technique did nothing. Turning his head slightly to the side, Sigma spoke. "Since you haven't seemed to connect the dots quite yet, I'll just tell you. Physical attacks only work on me." "And I take it you haven't noticed my ace in the whole either." Akemi said, a smirk crossing her face. Before Sigma could determine what Akemi was alluding to, something landed on the plate armor covering his shoulder and cooed in his ear. Round Two ? As the pigeon landed on the armor plates, Sigma looked at it, he then looked over at his opponent, using his free hand to push the bird from his shoulder, jump back and use his gunbai as a wall in front of himself. As the blast of wind struck the pidgin, the small bird's body errupted in a ball of blinding light as if an over sized flash bomb had detonated inside its body. Akemi shielded her eyes as the light expanded, producing a flash that could be seen or miles. The light was powerful enough to temporarily blind anyone within five meters, even if their eye contact was not direct. Now! ''Akemi thought, uncovering her eyes and rushing towards Sigma. ''Time to take care of that Gunbai. ''Akemi hopped into the air as she drew close to Sigma, flipping forward and attempting to bring her heel down on the hand Sigma was using to hold his Gunbai. As the flash occurred, Sigma was blinded. He jumped back, using his free hand to shield his eyes, but he was too late. ''"Good move, taking away my field of vision. But..." Removing his free hand from his eyes, Sigma began to channel chakra into it. Suddenly, a series of black walls formed. With the extensive help of the black walls, the gravity around the Sigma and Akemi would get extremely heavier, forcefully making Akemi, no matter where she was, drop to the ground. Sigma however, was accustomed to the technique and he himself would be able to nullify its ability. "It isn't good enough. The flash should be over any minute now. I can feel my sight slowly regaining." The sudden increase in gravity caught Akemi off guard, forcing her to the ground. Had her foot not already been beneath her center of gravity, she would have certainly smashed into the ground. The technique had stopped her several meters short of Sigma, leaving him withing mid range. I, U, Mi Akemi thought as she again began forming hand seals. As Sigma's vision started to recover, a line of slanted diamond spikes shot up from the ground, quickly making their way towards Sigma. "It's useless!" Sigma shouted, his halfway sight allowed him to just barely see her weaving hand seals. A black wall, shot downwards, making the diamonds collide with it, turning them to nothing. However, the gravitational pull even stronger, and this time possibly force Akemi down to her knees. A normal human would have been forced down to the ground by now, but between Akemi's genetically enhanced strength and dense bone structure, she was able to remain upwards. Akemi grit her teeth at Sigma, feeling a surge of hatred enter her body. As Akemi clasped her hands together in the Mi hand seal, she glared at Sigma. "I will never submit to the likes of you." Akemi shouted. "I am sworn to protect, both my my loyalty to my village and to my masters. I'll die before submitting to you." As Akemi finished her words, the ground beneath her turned to sand and Akemi quickly fell down into the soft soil. Wasting no time, Akemi dug her way away from Sigma. Using her enhanced physical strength to dig through the ground, Akemi made great time, escaping the increased gravity within seconds and reaching beyond the black walls. Akemi quickly forced her way up from the soil, brushing sand out of her hair as she did. Traditional offense isn't working. Akemi thought, spitting dirt from her mouth. Time for a change in tactics. With the fact she couldn't get through the gravitational forces of the walls, Sigma decided he'd just release the technique. With a quick breeze each and every wall disappeared into thin air. Spinning his gunbai, his vision slowly began to come back, yet at this point it had fully returned. "I've done you a favor and freed you of the technique. Now, you should do me one, and let me take you our for dinner." Akemi finished brushing the dirt from her cloths and looked at Sigma, the hardness in her gaze seemingly dissolving. Akemi began casually walking towards Sigma, as if she planned on greeting an old friend. "Where do you suggest we go?" Akemi asked, trading her ruthless tone with a softer voice. With a lift of the eyebrow Sigma's face was blank, however, this time it had no eraser shavings left. With a slight question to his own capabilities, Sigma stepped back. Something was up. He could feel it, the feeling was right in his gut. Placing his hand on his hip, Sigma began to speak. "I suggest you go back over to that side.." What Sigma meant was that Akemi had something up her sleeve. At one moment, she had a strike of kill on her plate, now she wants to play? He was no fool, even by pervert standards, and decided to keep his distance. "Why so shy all of a sudden?" Akemi asked playfully. "You were so confident before. Don't tell me your getting intimidated?" Akemi drew closer to Sigma, a smile ever present on her lips. "I see, still thinking I'm hostile." Akemi unlatched the straps attaching her kukri sheath to her waist. She grabbed the handle of the kukri and presented it to Sigma, sheath and all. "Will it comfort you if I let you hold this? Unless your scared to handle a real weapon of course." There was an awkward silence in the area. Sigma stood stiff not even a hurricane could push Sigma from his stance. In that next second, Sigma burst out into laughter. His forehead filled with veins. His face blood shot red, as he nearly dropped to his back. He clinched his stomach, crying out for mercy. "Best joke I've ever heard in my life. Oh my Sage. Father would've loved that one, I'm about to pee my pants!" Sigma slowly began to regain composure, then pulling his gunbai to his side. "But yeah, that's good." "Glad to entertain you." Akemi said, maintaining her innocent tone. "How disappointing though, was looking forward to a nice meal." Akmei strapped her kukri back on, adjusting it to be parallel with her waist. "How about a bet then?" "Now you're talking my language." Sigma placed his gunbai over his shoulder his other hand on his hip. Licking his lips, Sigma lifted his hand, giving some sort of signal to the woman. From her point of view he would look retarded. "What is this.. Bet?" "A simple game of tag." Akemi said. "All you have to do is get a hold of me." Akemi pointed up at the sky, towards the sun, which was now reaching its zenith. "If you can tag me, then it'll be my turn to tag you. Using the sun to keep time, we'll determine who was faster." The Game Sigma scratched his head, he looked left and right, then returned his vision high up into the sky. He looked at the sun as it's blazes flashed directly back down at him. He could see now why his technique was named after such a goddess. "I don't like tag. I actually would like if we could stay away from it. Anyway, if we do play, and you "tag me", what does that mean? What exactly will you be getting out of this? "If I win then I take that Gunabi as proof that your dead." Akemi explained. "But I'll be kind and let you walk. If I loose then you can take my kukri and I'll tell my superiors you took it and escaped. Even if you don't intend to keep it, the blade is edge with diamond, making this a rather lucrative item." Akemi drew her kukri from its sheath and held it above her head. "If your feeling ballsy Sigma, we can leave both of your weapons right here and leave them out of the game. It's your call. Of course, you have the option of refusing the game altogether and one of us would have to kill the other, but that would be a damn shame, wouldn't it?" Sigma sighed, before looking into the sky with the attempts to see exactly how much time he'd wasted. Looking back over at Akemi, he deep sighed. "Number One, you can not kill me. Like, let's just get that out of the way. Number two, I have money, I won't take from you. Last, I've never left anywhere without my gunbai. If you want it away from me, you gotta take it by force. Unless...the little baby girl can't do so?"